Ocean waves have been used recreationally for hundreds of years. One of the most popular sports at any beach with well-formed, breaking waves is surfing. Surfing and other board sports have become so popular, in fact, that the water near any surf break that is suitable for surfing is usually crowded and overburdened with surfers, such that each surfer has to compete for each wave and exposure to activity is limited. Further, the majority of the planet's population does not have suitable access to ocean waves in order to even enjoy surfing or other ocean wave sports.
Another problem is that the waves at any spot are varied and inconsistent, with occasional “sets” of nicely formed waves that are sought after to be ridden, interspersed with less desirable and, in some cases, unrideable waves. Even when a surfer manages to be able to ride a selected wave, the duration of the ride usually lasts only a few seconds, with most rides being between 5 and 10 seconds long. For both recreational and competitive surfing, consistency, control of variability, size and shape are key and long-sought aspects of man-made waves.
Various systems and techniques have been employed in an attempt to replicate ocean waves in a man-made environment. However, none of these systems and techniques thus far has generated an optimal wave, except, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0124459, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. Some of these systems will generate what is known as a classical Kelvin wake pattern, which instead of creating a large solitary wave, distributes wave energy into multiple, smaller auxiliary waves, or “wakes.” Still yet another problem with other artificial waves and wave pools are a lack of bi-directionality, and the tendency for an artificial wave generator to also generate in the constrained pool a significant amount of chop, reflective waves, and seiche.